


lips too chilled

by cxsmicskies



Series: 23 days of wonder [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Party, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is a Little Shit, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT) is Whipped, Mentioned Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Mistletoe, Soft Mark Lee (NCT)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27976764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cxsmicskies/pseuds/cxsmicskies
Summary: sometimes the best place to confess to your friend is under the mistletoe.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Series: 23 days of wonder [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049078
Kudos: 38





	lips too chilled

**Author's Note:**

> written for the '23 days of wonder' drabble challenge. title is taken from a translated haiku by matsuo basho (i counted it did not fit 5-7-5)

Christmas was inching closer. Mark could practically smell it in the air of the shopping center - the warm kind of sweet like cinnamon-topped beverages served way too hot before it cools too a nice glow in your stomach or the sugary kind with the rows of candy canes found in most candy displays nowadays.

_ Buy the party cups, wine, that cheese and cold cut platter from the deli, backup packs of barbecue, and tinsel? Why did they need more tinsel?  _ Mark listed off as he read the shopping list Donghyuck sent to him only after pushing him out their apartment door.

His friend seemed adamant to decorate the place alone, hauling out boxes of ornaments he was actually shocked they owned and tip-toeing around the scattered branches of their small plastic tree. 

It was his and Donghyuck’s turn to host and somehow the logistics of herding twenty-three men into a two-bedroom apartment in Seoul and feeding them could be considered a Christmas miracle in its own right. Same would be said if the apartment survived once the party was over.

Mark never knew what it was intuition? A hunch? A feeling he can’t quite get out of his noggin? Something like that but he felt in his gut that their Christmas party this year would be interesting, especially with the addition of Sungchan and Shotaro to their friend group a little earlier this year. Whatever it was, that feeling lingered in his chest as he loaded the ridiculous amount of meat onto the register’s counter.

One ride in the subway and an elevator ride to his floor, Mark had resisted the urge to drop all the groceries and stare at the sight before him. He knew the carol said to deck the halls but Hyuck, in all his artistic creativity, really took the liberty to deck their halls of their living space with mistletoe and holly - well mostly the former. 

“Sweet baby Jesus- What’s all this?” Mark just can’t. He really, really can’t right now and all Hyuck did was laugh and gather the groceries from his hands.

“Decorations.” His roommate said simply as he sauntered off to the kitchen.

The moment their friends started arriving, the apartment descended into chaos. Chenle and Jeno dug out the Twister mat from their cupboard and set it out in the living room, challenging an already tipsy Taeyong and Kun for a round. Donghyuck and Doyoung parked themselves by the mini grill they had set up, the younger cackling whenever he got a rise from his older friend.

Then the mistletoe drew fresh blood - Ten and Hendery claimed the first kiss of the evening, laughing it off and sharing another plate of meat together. But somehow this only made Mark hyper aware of their locations - the one by the barbecue station, by the bathroom door, by the speakers, by the TV.

It was truly a Christmas miracle that Mark didn’t get kissed. Yet.

Mark wasn’t the type to shy away from skinship. He loved his friends enough to give them smacks on the cheeks but there was one worry he agonized over as his affections brewed over time - standing under the mistletoe with Johnny.

Granted, it would be a dream come true if he reciprocated but there’s always that ache that lingers in Mark’s being whenever he thought of the what-ifs on top of more what-ifs before he bottles it in again until he unleashes it for another sleepless night. 

He just wanted fresh air, a moment to hide from the obstacle course that was their living area, a moment to himself to think about how far they’ve gotten that year and there Johnny was - sitting on a cushion next to Hyuck’s plant babies out in the cold, wearing the ugliest Christmas sweater imaginable, nursing a red party cup in hand while he looked out to the city skyline.

“Hey.” Johnny flashed him that smile - the one where the corners of his eyes crinkle up and sends Mark’s universe soaring whenever it’s directed at him. The smile that warms him up the good way - all bubbly and tingly on the inside. 

“Hey.” Mark can’t help but smile back and take a spot next to Johnny, plopping on the other cushion, falling easily into a comfortable silence despite the loud thumping he felt in his chest saying otherwise. 

_ Ba-dum _ .

“So you’re moving back?” Mark asks softly as he looks down, the antlers on his head making a soft jingle sound as he fiddles with the paws of his sweater. It was another what-if that gnawed on his mind - the possibility of Johnny moving back to Chicago suddenly felt too real even if the older said it in passing.”

_ Ba-dum _ .

“Maybe? I’m honestly…” he took a long pause, letting a puff of air as he sighed, “not too sure about it yet.” Johnny finishes, taking a long swig out from his cup and running his fingers through his hair. 

_ Ba-dum _ **_._ **

“I don’t think I can.” 

“I love you-” 

In a heartbeat, Mark’s world changed.

With his sudden confession, the Christmas miracle Mark wanted so badly - for the balcony to swallow him whole - like a gingerbread house crumbling in on itself after being assembled. The heat Mark travelled quick - from the tips of his ears down to the deepest pit of his gut.

He stammers, eyes darting from Johnny’s freshly cut hair to the balcony door to a wall of even more potted plants Hyuck had bought one day on impulse and to the spring of mistletoe hanging with the fairylights from the balcony ceiling. Oh- Johnny noticed it too.

_ Ba-dum. Ba-dum.  _

Mark doubts the redness in his cheeks subsided when he finally decides to look at Johnny directly but he’s steeling his heart for the inevitable rejection.

“It’s about time.” Wait. What?

_ Ba-dum. _

Time goes slow as Johnny reaches out to him, tenderly cupping his cheeks and giving him that gosh darned smile again, sending waves of butterflies fluttering through Mark’s chest. Was he? Were they? Was this? 

_ Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum _ .  _ Ba-dum _ .

The rate his heart was going could not be healthy and it only got worse as Johnny leaned in close, resting their foreheads against each other - with Johnny unaware of how much he made Mark’s pulse race. 

“I love you too.”

It was at that point when Mark hypothesized that this was just an eggnog induced fever dream of sorts. There’s a little part in Mark’s consciousness that can’t believe his current predicament is in fact a reality and not just a figment of his imagination. With their friends' laughter in the background, it was impossible for it to be something out of a lifetime movie or a seasonal rom com. 

There was no way he could be feeling Johnny’s lips on his (were they always this soft?) or the faint taste of the fruit punch he was drinking earlier. Mark, though still dazed, felt like it was automatic for him to pull Johnny closer - to wrap his arms around him as he deepened the kiss and wow-

Just wow.

If Mark knew all it took to get a kiss from Johnny was to step out onto the balcony during a Christmas party, then Mark should’ve done it ages ago (though he was only made aware of his quote unquote ‘hopeless gay pining’ on his birthday that year and Donghyuck never let him forget it ever since).

**Author's Note:**

> scream with me on twitter


End file.
